At the soft opening of the Silliman University Marina Mission Clinic as a primary hospital offering 24/7 services to the town of Dauin and neighboring municipalities, President Dr. Ben Malayang III noted how both the University and its extension facility are anchored on spirit of service.
“Both are institutions driven by service, not profit,” Dr. Malayang stressed, explaining how it is intended to afford quality basic medical care to many who are in need.
“We continue to be one of the top universities in the Philippines, but we remain a small institution, compared to big schools in Manila. Just like Marina, emphasis is on service, more than anything else,” he added in a media release Friday.
He said both the University and the Marina Mission Clinic started as a gift. The University grew from a $10,000 donation from philanthropist Dr. Horace Silliman from Cohoes, New York; the Marina Clinic started with resources from the family of the late Don Daniel SyCip, whose mission was for medical care to reach hinterland communities and make an impact in the lives of the poor.
The facility was named after Marina SyCip, the late mother of Don Daniel whom he never had the opportunity of knowing as she died after giving birth to him.
It was also established to encourage Don Daniel’s daughter, Dr. Fe SyCip-Wale, a pediatrician, to work instead in the country, and focus more on giving back to the country.
“After the gift, the clinic became so much committed to service and quality. It is not so much of a problem of just having more to serve but how much more we can serve,” Dr. Malayang said.
Malayang also called out on local officials in Dauin, Bacong, Zamboanguita, and Valencia to consider the clinic “as a part of yours in terms of services”. “We are confident that Marina will become a big player with respect to the larger vision of Negros Oriental,” he added.
He urged the staff, headed by Dr. Jun Salatandre, to keep the dream that started the clinic more than 40 years ago. “We merely level up the dream but we will not lose the dream–to serve as much as we can with whatever little we have.” (PNA)
